Air blocking apparatus

ABSTRACT

An air blocking apparatus is mounted to a server to replace a heat sink. The heat sink includes a base plate, and a fin assembly formed on the base plate. The fin assembly comprises a number of parallel fins. An air passage is defined in every two neighboring fins. The air blocking apparatus includes a bottom plate and a blocking plate perpendicularly extending up from the bottom plate. The blocking plate is rectangular, with a width and a height of the blocking plate respectively equal to a width and a height of the fin assembly of the heat sink. The blocking plate defines a vent. An area of the vent is equal to a sum of cross sectional areas of all of the air passages taken along a direction perpendicular to the board plate.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an air blocking apparatus of a server.

2. Description of Related Art

A server may have many processors, and heat sinks mounted on the processors for heat dissipation. For various reasons, some of the processors in a server may be removed and not replaced, leaving empty zones in the server. Heat-dissipating airflows tend to flow through the empty zones with low airflow resistance, rather than flow through the heat generating components in the server. Therefore, the empty zones in the server will possibly decrease heat dissipation efficiency in the server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, all the views are schematic, and like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an isometric, exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of an air blocking apparatus, a server chassis, and a heat sink.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the heat sink of FIG. 1, taken along the line of II-II.

FIG. 3 is side plan view of the air blocking apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary embodiment of an air blocking apparatus can be installed in a server chassis 800, where a heat sink 200 is installed. The chassis 800 defines a plurality of locating holes 801. The heat sink 200 includes a base board 201, and a fin assembly 202 formed on a top side of the base board 201. The base board 201 defines a plurality of mounting holes 2011 to align with the corresponding locating holes 801, thereby allowing a plurality of fasteners, such as rivets or screws, to extend through the mounting holes 2011 and the corresponding locating holes 801 to fix the heat sink 200 to the chassis 800. The fin assembly 202 includes a plurality of fins 203 all parallel to the base board 201, and two heat pipes 204 extending through the fins 203. Air can flow through air passages 207 defined between neighboring fins 203 for heat dissipation. A sum of the cross sectional areas of all of the air passages 207 taken along a direction perpendicular to the board plate 201 labeled II-II is equal to (W×h)×(N−1), wherein W stands for the width of each of the fins 202, h stands for the distance between neighboring fins 203, and N stands for the quantity of the fins 202.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the air blocking apparatus includes a bottom plate 10, a blocking plate 20 perpendicularly extending up from the bottom plate 10, and two ribs 30 connected between the bottom plate 10 and the blocking plate 20 to prevent the blocking plate 20 from being deformed. A plurality of fixing posts 11 extends downwards from the bottom plate 10. When the heat sink 200 is removed from the chassis 800, the air blocking apparatus can be fixed in the chassis 100, with the fixing posts 11 engaging in the corresponding locating holes 801 of the chassis 800. The blocking plate 20 is rectangular, with a width and a height respectively equal to the width and the height of the fin assembly 202 of the heat sink 20. The blocking plate 20 defines a vent 21. An area of the vent 21 is equal to the sum of the cross sectional area of the air passages 207, to make resistance to airflow provided by the blocking plate 20 the same as airflow resistance provided by the fin assembly 202 of the heat sink 200. Therefore, when the air blocking apparatus is mounted in the chassis 800 to replace the heat sink 200, lower heat dissipation efficiency caused by significant redistribution of airflow through the chassis 800 can be avoided.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiment have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiment, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An air blocking apparatus for being installed in a chassis to replace a heat sink removed from the chassis, the heat sink comprising a base board operable to be fixed to the chassis and a fin assembly formed on a top of the base board, the fin assembly comprising a plurality of parallel fins, with a plurality of air passages respectively defined between neighboring fins, the air blocking apparatus comprising: a bottom plate to be fixed to the chassis; and a blocking plate extending up from the bottom plate, wherein the blocking plate is rectangular, with a width and a height of the blocking plate respectively equal to a width and a height of the fin assembly of the heat sink, the blocking plate defines a vent, an area of the vent is equal to a sum of cross sectional areas of all of the air passages along a direction perpendicular to the board plate.
 2. The air blocking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the area of the vent is equal to (W×h)×(N−1), where W stands for a width of each of the fins, h stands for a distance between neighboring fins, and N stands for the quantity of the fins.
 3. The air blocking apparatus of claim 1, wherein a plurality of fixing posts extends downwards from the bottom plate to engage with the chassis. 